Slider
by Therrin-Ninja
Summary: Kyon, while walking to school, suddenly realizes that there is something subtly wrong about the world around him. What is it? There's no Haruhi, and there's no SOS Brigade. Kyon, stranded in a different universe, has to get home!


If I had been asked whether I wanted to be part of this, I would have shrugged, because I would have been clueless as to what was going to happen.

If you had asked after I had read a sketchy chronicle of the the things I would have had to endure, I would have thrown the papers in your face and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Actually, I probably would have laughed in your face, and called you a liar, or a lunatic. Gods in the form of high school girls? Aliens? Espers? Time Travelers? and Sliders, of all things?

Yeah, right!

And I probably would have kept on chuckling as you tried to explain that it was all very plausible, thank you, and that there were examples throughout time and space.

Haruhi? a god? eccentric, perhaps, but human, I'd say.

Yuki? an alien? quiet, a book freak, but also, fairly normal, I'd respond.

Ituski? an esper? good looking, irritating, but human, I'd declare.

Mikuru? a time traveller? a beacon of all things good, but human, I'd admit.

Myself?

What do you mean, me? I'm a human. Born human, grew up human, and have remained human ever since.

A slider? Is your head screwed on wrong? Did you get jumped by something you claim crawled out of your television? Or did some strange government cut open your head to tap into your brain?

No. I'm perfectly human, thank you.

-o-

I was walking up to school, bag slung over my shoulder the way you see in anime, thinking. That was when Taniguchi slapped my back.

What I was thinking about is unimportant, but you need to know that detail to be understanding of my reaction.

my reaction was to start in shock, drop my bag, and spin around, arm outstretched in an attempt to defend myself, or something.

Taniguchi ducked, but only just, and welcomed me with a 'Geeze, there's no call for That!"

I stared at him. There was something strangely . . . _wrong _ about him. Then it clicked.

"What's up with your uniform?"

There was something weird about it. The blue was off, and the red tie was now white. The pants were also a different colour, a khaki tan instead of dark brown. They weren't significant differences, but they were there.

Taniguchi made a face at me. "Eh? what're you talking about? This is the uniform. You better do something about the one you're wearing, though, 'cause if you're caught like that, there might be some questions."

I looked down at myself. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. It was the uniform I'd been wearing to high school so far.

"What, did they change the dress code recently?"

Taniguchi continued to give me a strange look. "No, it's been like this since forever. Is there something wrong with you?"

I shrugged. Something was wrong, I could give you that. Who that culprit was, though, I wasn't sure. Haruhi, perchance?

-o-

Arriving in the homeroom was also disconcerting. Everybody's uniforms were different. The girls were still wearing sailor uniforms, sure, but the colours were all wrong. the skirts were now khaki, and the tops, instead of having a red ribbon, had a pale blue ribbon instead. The red stripes in the cuffs and the collar had also gone khaki. I felt weirdly out of place.

The next thing that weirded me out was that fact that there was someone sitting in my seat. I shrugged this off, and looked around. maybe there was a different desk that I was supposed to sit at? Everything else had gone insane, so a change in desk placement was possible.

Taniguchi bumped me from behind. "What're you doing here?"

"Huh?"

"You're in class 1-9, remember? What is up with you today?"

Kunikida had appeared behind me as well. "He's always been a little weird, remember?"

Gee, thanks.

"Right, I guess I should get to class, then."

I turned, and wandered out again. Then it occurred to me. Taniguchi was probably playing some kind of trick on me. It would be like him. Then again, getting the entire school to go along with it? That was just something Taniguchi couldn't quite pull off. There was something strange going on here. And I didn't necessarily know what. What I could do is see if I could find Nagato, or, if I had to, Koizumi.

Who? Koizumi was supposedly (if he hadn't also moved) in class 1-9. and Nagato was probably in the clubroom.

Considering the time I had left, I wandered toward class 1-9. I'd sort this out as soon as class was over.

-o-

Koizumi was there, like I'd thought he'd be. But there was something fundamentally wrong with him, too. He was still smooth and good looking, but there was a difference between him and the Koizumi I knew. There was a weird, special glow that Koizumi usually gave off, the one that said that he knew exactly what everyone was thinking, and he smugly stashed all the info away. This one didn't have that.

I was standing, gaping, when I was tapped on the shoulder from behind. I turned, then scuttled back, arms flailing, my legs doing a crazy dance of their own.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you? I didn't mean to!" The voice belonged to an alien whom I would have like very much to have never seen again. She stood, looking vaguely concerned.

"I'm sorry, but I have to talk to the homeroom teacher. Bye!" Asakura waved, and wandered toward the front of the room. I stayed where I was, arms outstretched, my mouth hanging open in shock and horror.

"Um, are you alright?" Koizumi's voice sounded from behind me.

"Uhhh, I don't know."

"Do you need to go to the nurse's?"

"Errm-" did I need to go to the nurse? I didn't think so, but there was definitely something strange going on here. I shook my head. "No, but could you point me to my desk?"

Koizumi, looking very bemused, lifted his arm and pointed to a desk next to the window, second seat back. Well, at least I still had a awesome seat.

"Thanks." I smiled warily, and strode over to what was apparently my desk.

I settled down, and pulled out one of the books, just to make sure. Yep. my name was on the inside cover of it. I suppose it was my desk. But, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

I cradled my forehead in my hands, and the homeroom teacher for 1-9 strolled in. I wasn't paying attention at first, but I came to realize that besides Koizumi, Asakura was also in my class. Odd.

The class went fairly normally, and I was able to keep fairly quiet throughout the entire thing.

As soon as the bell rang, I shot out of the room like a bolt of lightening, earning some surprised stares from my classmates. I hurtled around corners and up stairs until I was in the old building, and skidded to a halt. Panting, I opened the door.

Nagato was there, wearing the weird, different uniform. She hardly moved as I ducked in, seized a chair and dragged it over to her. As I dropped into it, she looked up. She was wearing her glasses again. She fixed her eyes on me, and closed her book. I took this as a Very Bad Sign.

"Nagato, what's going on?"

"I do not know."

" . . . . WHAT?"

"I do not know."

"B-but, what about that integrated data over-thingy?"

"It does not know what to make of the situation."

I gaped at her. Here was Nagato, NAGATO, alien created by omni-something space data mind things, and she didn't KNOW?

I tried taking a deep breath, and sat back in the cheap fold-out chair. "Alright. What's wrong with Koizumi?"

"I do not understand."

"What's with him? He's not nearly the way he usually is. What's up with that?"

Nagato blinked. Did I detect _alarm_ in her eyes? Confusion? That was an even worse sign. Anything that worried Nagato meant that I had absolutely zero chance at all of being able do deal with it.

CRAP.

-o-

I wandered back to class, hardly seeing the people around me. I was thinking, but also so in shock that I could hardly think. Something that confused even Nagato, who had the ability to befuddle me to the ends of the earth with her tech-talk. If she was confused, I was completely screwed.

I was so completely out of it that I didn't see the diminutive form approaching from the opposite direction. What resulted was a collision that sent papers everywhere.

"Uuwaaah!"

I instantly recognized the voice, and leapt to my feet, pulling papers together and turning to help the adorable chestnut headed Asahina.

"I'm so sorry! Are you all right, Asahina?"

The puppy-dog eyes stared up at me as she took the papers back, clutching them to her chest in a rumpled, ragged pile.

"Uh, um, thank you? I don't know who you are, but but thank you for helping me."

"Not a problem. After all, I wasn't- not know who I am? But Miss Asahina, we're in the S.O.S. Brigade together! We have been for a while now!"

Slight fear sank into Mikuru's eyes as she stared up at me, bewildered.

"Never mind," I backed off immediately, "are you alright?"

"Yes." she glanced around. "Um, well, I need to be off, now."

I jumped out of her way. "Right! Sorry! See you!"

She scuttled off down the corridor, and I turned back towards class 1-9. Didn't know me? What?

My mind somewhere else, my feet followed autopilot, and I found myself standing in front of my old classroom. From outside, it was surprisingly quiet. Too quiet.

It finally registered in my brain. Where's Haruhi? There hadn't been any kind of disruption, occurrence, or distractions during the entire day.

Suddenly I realized that things were alot worse than they seemed.

-o-

"psst! Koizumi!"

My classmate turned his head to see me in the corner of one curious eye.

"Yes?"

"Could you come with me after school? I need you to help me with something."

He looked like he was considering it for a bit, then nodded. "I believe I can. I don't have work today."

"Work?"

"Yes, I work part time."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh."

Could he still be working as an esper? In this world with no Haruhi, I would have thought that there would be no need for espers, aliens, and time travelers. But who knows? Maybe there was something else that the esper boy squad could be useful for.

Nagato would already be in the clubroom, that much I was sure of. As for Miss Asahina . . .

-o-

During the next break, I skulked around the second year class rooms. I could see why Haruhi knew so much of the school. I'd gotten slightly lost wandering around, looking for the most likely rooms.

I was about to turn back when I spotted her down the corridor, walking alongside Tsuriya. I sprinted after them, and called out.

"Miss Asahina!"

She turned, looking bemused. "Yes?"

I ground to a halt in front of the two. "Could you meet with me and a couple other classmates after school in the Literature Club room?"

She stared at me, a little hint of confusion and worry dancing in her sparkling eyes.

"Well, I suppose I could. Calligraphy Club doesn't meet today . . . sure."

I grinned gratefully. "Thanks alot." I bowed slightly to the two second years, and left, hardly noticing that I was getting glowers from some of the other second years. Good. Now I could ask those three what the heck was going on.

-o-

After class, I slouched in one of the fold out chairs. I had bought a hot cup of tea, but it didn't compare at all to the tea that Miss Asahina made. Across the room, Nagato was focused on her book.

There was a knock at the door, and after I called that they could come in, Koizumi entered the room.

"Well, this is cozy. Could I ask as to what you wanted to speak about?"

I nodded. "We just need to wait for the last person to show up. Oh, by the way, the girl right there is Yuki Nagato."

Koizumi smiled politely, and bowed. Nagato glanced up long enough to make eye contact, and barely nodded before going back to reading. Koizumi selected one of the other folding chairs, and settled down, peering around curiously. A smile hovered on his lips, like he was politely trying not to laugh at what only he saw. That was more like the Koizumi I knew, though he still seemed strangely diminished.

The doorknob rattled, and the fabulous Mikuru Asahina padded into the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she murmured unnecessarily, fidgeting a little with her index fingers, "I had cleaning duty today."

I smiled reassuringly. "Not at all." Then I remembered my manners. "Oh, Miss Asahina, this is Itsuki Koizumi. Koizumi, Mikuru Asahina."

The two bowed politely, and I stood up as Miss Asahina sat.

"So, the reason I'll called you three here is because I have a problem. A very big problem."

The three gazed at me, Nagato with barely recognizable interest, Koizumi with intrigue, and Asahina in vague bemusement.

I took a deep breath. "Firstly, have any of you heard of a girl named Haruhi Suzumiya?"

All three shook their heads.

"Okay. Have any of you heard of Time Travellers, Espers, or Aliens?"

I watched the group carefully as I said this, praying . . . .

"Because, I think I might be a Slider."

The other three stared at me.

-o-

"The universe I'm from, there's this girl, named Haruhi Suzumiya, who's in search of aliens, espers, time travelers, and sliders.

"In this other world, she had managed to gather up just those, in this same room. She didn't know she had, but she had managed to gather up an alien, a time traveller, and an esper, They had actually gathered at this school because of her, and had never expected her to gather them up so quickly.

"In that world, you three were the alien, the esper, and the time traveler. Nagato, you were an alien created by some data overmind thingy, and you were here as an watcher over the source of self evolution or something.

"Koizumi, your part time job was actually an organization who used their esper talents to battle blue glowing giants who threatened to destroy the world as we know it, who was here to keep an eye on the organization's god.

"Asahina, you were a time traveler from the future, who had come back in time to keep an eye on an anomaly in time.

"I don't know whether this world is the same way as it is in mine, but I think I would like to get back as soon as possible, and the only people I could think of who could help me were you three."

Here I stopped, and took a long drink from my lukewarm tea. I kept one eye cracked open, to watch the other three.

Nagato was staring straight at me. No emotion to be read there.

Koizumi was sitting back, holding his chin in his hand, smiling slightly.

Asahina stared at the table, biting her lip. Her hands were clenched on top of her knees, and her eyes looked troubled. I wasn't sure, but I felt as though, if I were to choose one of them to try to read, it would be her. She looked like a little kid who broke their mother's vase, and is waiting for their parents to get home.

I finished sipping my tea, and sat back. "I don't know who else could help. If you can, you don't have to tell me now. You three were the only ones I could think to ask for help."

I felt like a jerk, phrasing it like that. What if they actually were normal people in this world? That'd make me the guy asking the completely impossible.

I silently prayed as the three stared at me from across the table.

Mikuru was the easiest to read, so read her I did. She glanced at her companions, who were both good enough actors to conceal all emotion. She then noticed me watching her, and quickly checked her gaze to stare down at her feet. She was like a puppy who knows that it's in trouble. I gave in.

"You guys don't have to tell me now, but if you can help, let me know, okay? See you tomorrow."

Asahina's face shot up, relief shining in those huge, liquid orbs. Nagato dipped her head minutely, and Koizumi nodded.

I stood, and left the room, figuring that I might as well try heading home.

-o-

"Well, you certainly seem to have had an interesting day. You are not the Kyon that left the house this morning."

My bag landed with a thud as I gaped downwards. I had frozen in the process of taking off my shoes in the front hall, balancing on one leg, one hand against the wall.

The calico cat smiled vaguely up at me.

"_Shamisen_?"

"Yes?"

"Did . . . ." I paused to process what I was about to say, "Did you just speak?"

"Perhaps. It depends what you define as speaking."

Oh yeah. I'd forgotten what he was like. Ever since that time during the preparation for the school festival, Shamisen hadn't spoken a word. But in this universe, apparently he could?

"I see you are surprised. Are talking cats unusual in the world which you came from?"

I managed to lever my jaw a little, and croaked slightly.

Shamisen nodded. "I see."

I slowly reached down, and lifted my bag from the floor, walked to the stairs, and silently went to my room, Shamisen following me all the way. I silently lay down on my bed, face down.

I felt a strange weight, and four places of pressure. I assumed Shamisen had climbed onto my back.

I groaned into my pillow, the cat swaying slightly on my back.

"You're not going to find a solution by staring into a pillow."

The cat leapt for safety as I levered myself upright.

"Hey, Shamisen?"

"Mm?"

"How could you tell that I wasn't the same person?"

"Well, you're wearing the wrong uniform, and you smell different."

I processed this for a while, then wandered off to get ready for bed. At least my room looked the same as back home.

-o-

In the middle of the night, my cellphone started to vibrate, signifying that someone was intent on inturrupting my sleeping patterns.

"Uuuuurg?"

"Hi, Koizumi here. I was wondering if I could talk to you about what you said earlier."

I tried shaking the drowsiness from my brain. "Eh?"

"Miss Nagato and Miss Asahina are with me, as well."

THAT woke me up. How dare he be in the company of Miss Asahina without my escort! "Alright. where do you want to meet?"

"At the station near the school, if that would be alright."

I flung off my covers, as I answered "Right!"

-o-

As I strolled up, after ditching my bike in front of the nearby bank, the three turned to look at me.

I felt a tug at my elbow. I turned to see Miss Asahina smiling at me. At first I was overjoyed to be smiled at by the beautiful Miss Asahina, until I realized that there was worry in that smile.

"What's wrong?"

It was Koizumi who spoke up, much to my surprise and chagrin. "There's a matter that the three of us would like to discuss with you."

I raised my eyebrows. 'the three of us' must have meant himself, Miss Asahina, and Miss Nagato.

"Oh yeah?"

"I think I should let Miss Nagato explain this," grinned Koizumi.

Yuki stepped forward.

"After amassing the relevant data there have been a series of analysis that has brought up the possibility of a selection of unusual if unseen abilities which pertain to you. These include, but are not limited to the ability to traverse across the barriers of specific time and space planes."

What?

I gazed, a little slack-jawed, at the alien in front of me. To the side, the esper smiled enigmatically, while the time-traveller stood at my elbow.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry, but could you run that by me again?"

Koizumi unfolded his arms. "I believe what she's saying is that you are capable of stepping between dimensions and parallel universes."

Okay, so I was right that I'm a Slider?

"The data that has been amasses indicates that the occurrence of planer transference since the one a few days ago was observed approximately 3 years ago."

Not 3 years ago again, surely?

"So, what makes you all sure that I am a slider?"

Here Miss Asahina spoke up.

"Well, I was talking with my superiors, and they are saying that if they take consider Itsuki's group's theory, the world may have been created only 3 years ago. If that were so, then there wouldn't be a past after that to go back to. That would explain why we can't go back any further."

Wait, since when did her superiors know about what Koizumi's organization thinks? Then again, perhaps it's available in records in the future. How would I know? But since when did they see it as credible?

I didn't want to interrupt, but that still didn't answer my question.

"At that that time, the Data Entities registered a large amount of data that exploded from what appeared to be Haruhi Suzumiya. However, closer inspection indicates that there was a secondary source, where from seemingly no where a relatively small amount of data appeared from no-where. This data would be you."

My brain feeling fried from the info dump, I paused for a second to try to sort out the facts.

"So, what you're saying is that I appeared in what I consider home three years ago? From no-where? or some other universe? what're you going to do, after telling me this? Does this mean that there's a way to get me home?"

Both Koizumi and Nagato turned to look at Miss Asahina at this.

"W-well, the thing is, we were thinking that we would like to go back in time and see if this is true."

"Why do you need to tell me about this then? I'm sure you guys could be sneaky enough to do that on your own."

"Well, that's the thing. We need you there to act as a distraction."

Huh?

Koizumi continued. "The time at which you appeared was just after the symbol that you helped her draw on the athletic field was completed."

Okay.

"We need you to make sure that this Haruhi doesn't find anything odd. If it is true, and there is a god, then there needs to be as little interfereance by us as possible."

"Why would that matter?"

"Well, she doesn't remember ever meeting a slider, an alien, an esper, or a time traveller, so therefor she must not have found us. Therefor, she was kept from finding us."

I made a face at that. "Wait, I don't remember anything about finding myself in the middle of a athletic field surrounded by chalk scribbles. And how do you know there will even be a Haruhi?"

"I would imagine that the strain of jumping universes knocked you out for a while. As for Haruhi, it'd be better to play safe."

Now he had something there. I had vague memories of being sick during Tanabata three years ago -Wait a minute, does that mean I actually believe what he's saying? Whatever the case, I could see half a dozen holes in this story of theirs . . .

"So, how the hell am I supposed to keep Haruhi from going back? And what are you guys going to be doing?"

"I imagine that the transfer of someone between universes is less than silent," mused Koizumi, "As for us, we shall be researching for our respective associations."

"Indeed," agreed Nagato, "The resulting decible level of the reaction of the displaced air around an object is relatable to that of something breaking the sound barrier."

The only things I could think of that broke the sound barrier were fighter jets and gun shots, and that, I knew, was loud enough to catch anyone's attention.

"Alright, I think I get your point. But what happens if we are there, and there's no me that appears? Or no Haruhi?"

"Then we try to find out what's wrong with our information," replied Koizumi. "However, I expect that with our combined resources, or as much as are available to us at this time, that there is very little space for error."

I'm sorry, but I think I just heard a 'what could possibly go wrong', and I will tell you now, Koizumi, jinx!

-o-

The plan was to leave from the clubroom, the same way that Miss Asahina and I did last time. Koizumi seemed rather facinated, while Nagato was as difficult to read as ever. I did detect a lack of interest on her part, though. Was that because she didn't think much of Miss Asahina's method of time travel?

Nagato, Koizumi and myself were seated in a row on the club's fold up chairs, facing Miss Asahina. She seemed to have taken on the demeanor of a flight attendant somewhat, and had asked us to close our eyes, while she prepared to the trip. I, of course, did exactly what she asked. How could I refuse?

The next thing I knew, I was slowly opening my eyes to onto a dark park. My head was resting on someone's shoulder, while their head rested on top of mine. I registered that I had a crick in my neck from being in that position, but couldn't move. So instead, I looked around.

Off to one side stood Miss Asahina, absorbed in something that looked small and shiny. Directly to my left I could just make out Nagato, sitting stock still on the bench seat next to me. Which would mean . . . .

I shot upright, cringing as my neck protested being snapped straight. Koizumi woke with a start as his head collided with my shoulder. Massaging my neck, I addressed Miss Asahina.

" Is everything all right?"

She nodded. " It seems as though we have arrived without any problems. But . . . "

I could hear the doubt in her voice, and started to worry. Usually, if someone worries, they are worrying about normal things. But when you hear your sweet, beautiful Time Travel attendant worry, you know that something is really, really wrong.

"What's up?"

She glanced up at me.

"I'm getting some very strange readings. There says that there's a time anomaly in the area, so I don't know how long we will get to go to the park and see everything."

I thought about this for a second. This was probably Haruhi's fault, again. I asked.

"So, is this because of Haruhi and her weird symbol?"

"The more likely culprit would be yourself, I would think," smarmed Koizumi. "since you're the slider, there would be all sorts of results from matter appearing with no warning."

"Then I guess that we should get going, and find me before Haruhi or the other me finds me."

Koizumi stood up with a determined "Right." and Nagato nodded.

We set off.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Hey, just wanted to post this before tomorrow. Do you know what comes out Tomorrow? **

**The Suzumiya Haruhi movie *squeeeEEEEEE***

**Anyway, I wanted to get my jab at slider fic in before that, since I know KNOW that there's going to be Kyon jumpin' the gaps between worlds. **

**Can't Wait!**

**I've had this sitting for a while, and just got around to it because I really like the idea. I hope you like it too, and I will try to get more of this out. **

**in the meantime . . . . . *EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* (SUCH a Kyon fangirl* *I have the figma Kyon on my desk, with Shamisen the cat, and his younger sister* **

**. . . . YAY!**

**Also, thank you for all the support with the other Haruhi fics. I really REALLY appreciate it!**


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